More Reactions To The PSP Ads

Lots of comments coming in this morning on the
PSP ads. Here’s a sampling of some of the emails we’ve received in the last few
minutes:

From Peter:

“It seems that a group of “artists” all over the country have been sent
theseprints… and a
check.”

Whats so wrong with someone making a little dough to
pay the rent or to buy a drink or some paint with their profit
/>

From -blUtt:

“hey, maybe someone has
already metioned it, but here in chicago, we have thesame psp ads. i
actually sawa group of 3 guys painting one at about 7 am a fewweeks ago,
and walked over to talk to em. i figured it had to be a permissionthing,
as it was a high foot traffic area during rush hour on a weekday and the
/>guys are out there with spray cans. i gave em some of my stickers and asked
whatthe painting was all about (it was the first i’d seen of this
campaign). theyfilled me in (i’d never even heard of psp, so that’s how
behind the times iam!). sony was paying them to do it, and a friend of
theirs was how they werelocated/identified as artists that fit the bill.
we had a short discussion aboutstickers/posters/graff/etc. i do not
remember these guys’ names (they only toldme what names they wrote,
anyway), nor would i out them here anyway. my feelingis this: at the end
of the day, ya gotta live YOUR life your way, not anyoneelse’s life your
way. alot of negativity comes from things like this, and we letourselves
be divided by this shit when we should instead be focus on what bindsus
all. besides, things like this are good for weeding out the suckers anyhow.
/>when graff/streetart blows over, we’ll be a stronger core. thanks for
listening.

From Mr Evol:“I’ve read through all the comments up
to now and youall are missing a point that I think should be at the
forefront of thisargument. According to the powers at be in many of the
places that these ads arepopping up, GRAFFITI IS ILLEGAL. At face value
this major corporation is hiringartists to participate in an illegal
activity. What happens if these kids getbusted? Is Sony going to pay their
legal fees? Keep them from getting a felonycharge? Be there the very
instance to release the handcuffs once slapped on? ITHINK NOT. The artist
will take the fall, if not all the way through the processat least the
shitty part listed in all these prison stories such as being put ina cell
without proper hydration for an entire night.

This brings me to
/>my next question. Aren’t we all into this medium for the liberating aspects?
Toget away from institutionalized art forms? Maybe I’m wrong but the way I
see itever since Dalek did posters for Nike and Comedy Central started
using Graffitistyle elements in theishorts and Tats Crew started doing
pieces for Hummer thedecline of an art form we’ve all worked so hard to
further had begun. Whathappened to Morals? If we play into the hands of
these people for a few measlybucks where will it end? They will own us
all. The way I see it we createdsomething so powerful and revived the
notion of taking it to the streets,directly to the people like back in the
1800’s where history shows us how peoplewould paste thousands of posters
openly without conviction. The same institutionthat turned our expression
into an illegal act is now telling us it’s ok to doso without changing any
laws. This is getting just as twisted and backwards asthe media. There has
to be a point where someone says NO. Surely at least one ofall these
artists who received the so called plans for action to throw theseimages
up in public had the balls to say THIS IS WRONG. If I received theseplans
I would take Sony to court. It’s like handing someone a gun and a checkand
saying go kill this person for me because I can’t bear to participate in the
/>illegal act myself. It seems like some form of entrapment to me.

/>I’m ALLABOUT supporting the arts in ANY medium, but instead of LETTING
THINGS HAPPEN weneed to pause and question them first and make necessary
adjustments. We need tochange laws first. For example, the Lewis Libby
book that is so hot right now(The Apprentice) which mentions something
about raising a 10 year old girl as achild prostitute and putting her in a
cage with a bear to have its way with herso that she’d lose emotional
attachment to her rapists. This is written Bush’sadviser. Granted he has
the right to write such filth and I highly support it.BUT ON THE OTHER
HAND if I were to write a book about systematicallyassassinating the
entire Bush administration I’d be punished severely for it,maybe even
killed. Just because he’s in the position he is he should be treatedthe
same way he would treat me for expressing myself and my freedoms. Until I
/>can get away with writing twisted psychotic shit (remember, I’m SUPPOSE to
havethe right to) I will never support politicians writing this crap. It’s
likesaying one person can do it and others can’t. Which is exactly what’s
happeninghere. Just because Sony is telling us it’s ok doesn’t necessarily
mean it is. Sowho’s responsible?

Point is. We’re artists, not
puppets. We all reallyneed to think about what we’re doing. If we want
this art form to survive and berespected we have to put arespectable face
on it. An uprising against thisshameless act would be a perfect example.
To tell the public that is weary ofour causes that we mean business and
don’t all agree with someone who puts a badface on our collective. Like
Neck Face painting on a historic Brownstone. Thisis just wrong and it’s
reasons like these why Street Art is being attacked theway it is.
/>

From Bill:

i saw the recent psp ads. i
gotta admit i saw the psp’s straight away butthought that it’s a cool new
gadget so why would someone not mash that intotheir own work. it was no
great surprise however that it turned out to be an adcampaign. i just got
a couple of points to add my two pennies worth (as they sayin the uk).
/>your point about location does not add up to me. usingdifferent
locations is exactly what many street artists do (Obey). many also get
/>other people to execute the work (Obey). so this is not the reason why this is
apoor street campaign.

this is the reason.

what
happens if one ofthese artists gets busted whilst doing the work? are
sony’s lawyers gonna paytheir costs and get them out of trouble? you bet
your ass they’re not. does sony(as a muge megacorp) stand up and say
“street art should be legit stop bustingpeople?” er no. that’s where the
difference lies for me with legitimate streetart. i therefore conclude
that sony is exploiting these people who are doing thework and exploiting
a scene that are pretty good at sticking up for one another,take
Roadsworth spat with the law as an example. it’d be cool if the marketing
/>exec in charge of this campaign had to do community service

on
the other hand i’d rather this cash goes into the pockets of starving artists
ratherthan Clear Channel. at least when it’s on the wall someone can come
along andwrite “phony” on it without it being scrubbed clean by a Clear
Channel cleaningman in a Clear Channel cleaning van.

seems to
have worked well as an advertising campaign though, got a whole bunch of folks
talking about it